Paroles et Gestes Libres – artistic workshops in penitentiaries

Action culturelle

  • Artistic action in prisons

La Maison des Jonglage proposes to the Centre Pénitentiaire de la Santé and to the Centre pénitentiaire de Villepinte two workshop courses around the art of gesture and the art of speech with the detainees. Thus, Gilles Dodemont, juggling artist and Aurélie Ruby, actress and director at the Centre Pénitentiaire de la Santé and Axel Martinez, juggler and Aurélie Ruby at the Centre pénitentiaire de Villepinte propose a series of workshops involving the body, objects and speech.

    This session has passed

  • Villepinte Prison
  • Du Wednesday 14 December 2022
  • au Wednesday 14 December 2022
  • Espace d'accueil : texte espace d'accueil

    This session has passed

  • Villepinte Prison
  • Du Tuesday 18 October 2022
  • au Tuesday 22 November 2022
  • Espace d'accueil : Respecto Space

    This session has passed

  • Villepinte Prison
  • Le Tuesday 22 November 2022
  • Espace d'accueil : texte espace d'accueil

[Intervenant·e·s]

Paris La Santé Prison Center

A Writing/Theatre/Juggling project around the notion of “Free Speech”, on the different meanings and feelings of a word, how the word flies, how it shouts, it whispers, it bounces, it taps, it writes fictions and it induces feelings, it goes around like a rumor, how it can create terror, how it is muzzled and then freed again, how it laughs, cries, rolls, remains weightless, weighs heavily on the heart, how it speaks loudly of our times and of what we go through in our intimate and political lives.

Thus Gilles Dodemont, juggling artist and Aurélie Ruby, actress and director, will propose to start from words that come in brainstorming when we speak and thus decline daily stories, senses, analyze, create, write, become aware, question, what is said, not said, written, told, juggled, from the word to the ball, from the ball to the mouth, from the mouth to the heart. To write, to put in voice, then in play, in stage, in circus these writings.

> Object manipulation (juggling) aims to develop coordination with simple objects such as balls (sometimes bouncing), plastic bags, hats: Detour of the use of objects by the body is encouraged.

> Writing workshop, voice and theater: thanks to simple games of sentences that begin with the same words or propositions, by playing on the neighboring sounds, the participants can produce small very personal texts.

Gilles Dodemont and Aurélie Ruby will stage a performance in line with an approach that mixes bodies, objects, texts and play, thus creating a hybrid form that can be classified as “new writing”, and above all by relying on the directed improvisations, of which they will keep the most relevant elements for themselves as well as for the participants. This public restitution will give to see and to hear the texts written in the workshop and the acquired gestural performances.

Villepinte Prison

Axel Chippi Martinez, juggling artist and Aurélie Ruby, actress and director, will propose to start from words that come in brainstorming when we speak and thus decline daily stories, senses, analyze, create, write, become aware, question, what is said, not said, written, told, juggled, from the word to the ball, from the ball to the mouth, from the mouth to the heart To write, to put in voice, then in play, in stage, in circus these writings.

The detour of the use of objects by the body is encouraged. It is a mise en abyme of its potential of exploit, of its own virtuosity thanks to the play, often tinged with humor. We develop a work of directed improvisations, and quickly each participant can explore materials that he personalizes and builds for a restitution.

Participants can produce small, very personal texts. These games can be written or spoken and the texts are then declaimed, sung and embodied, giving rise to improvisations that enrich the writing.


Axel Chippi Martinez and Aurélie Ruby will stage a restitution in coherence with an approach that mixes body, objects, texts and game creating a hybrid form that we classify in the “new writings” and especially by leaning on the directed improvisations of which they will keep the most relevant elements for them as for the participants. This public restitution will give to see and to hear the texts written in the workshop and the acquired gestural performances.

In partnership with